Sexual Partners Should Get Expedited Treatment for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea

Male sexual partners of women diagnosed with chlamydia or gonorrhea should be prescribed antibiotics in an effort to prevent passing infections back and forth, according to new guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

Read more:

New Swine Flu Viruses Identified in 2 Children in U.S.

Last month 2 children in Indiana and Pennsylvania were diagnosed with novel strains of swine-origin influenza A (H3N2), according to a September 2, 2011, early online edition of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Both children with the virus -- which is distinct from the H1N1 pandemic influenza A identified in 2009 -- had fevers and other typical flu symptoms, but recovered without complications.

Read more:

Risk Factors for Tuberculosis among HIV Positive People in the US and Canada

Worldwide, tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death for people with HIV/AIDS. TB is relatively uncommon in industrialized countries such as the U.S. and Canada, where it is largely concentrated among immigrants and the indigent.

Although HIV positive people with compromised immune function are at risk for TB as an opportunistic illness, TB screening is not routinely done prior to initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) in low-incidence settings.

Read more:

CDC Recommends Flu Vaccine for All Adults and Children Over Age 6

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently recommended that everyone age 6 and older should be vaccinated against influenza, even though the 3 flu strains included in this year's vaccine -- including pandemic H1N1 "swine" flu -- are the same as last year's.

Read more:

Two HPV Vaccine Doses May Protect as Well as Three

The bivalent Cervarix human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine may protect against cervical cancer with 2 doses, which would reduce inconvenience and cost compared with the current standard 3-dose regimen, according to study findings described in the September 9, 2011, advance online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Read more:

Cervarix Vaccine Protects Women against HPV that Causes Anal Cancer

The Cervarix human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine reduced anal infection with cancer-causing HPV types 16 and 18 in a study of women in Costa Rica, according to a report in the September 2011 issue of The Lancet Oncology.

Read more:

New TB Vaccine Candidate Appears Promising in Mice

A related bacteria known as Mycobacterium smegmatis modified to carry M. tuberculosis genes was able to a stimulate a strong immune response in mice, offering the potential for a new protective tuberculosis vaccine, according to a study reported in the September 4, 2011, advance online edition of Nature Medicine.

Read more:

Tuberculosis Blood Tests Often Inaccurate, WHO Warns Against Use

Commercially available blood tests for active tuberculosis (TB) may not be accurate and can lead to misdiagnosis and mistreatment, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published online August 9, 2011, in PLoS Medicine.

Read more: